Joel 2:6

6 {From before them} nations writhe, all faces {turn pale}.

Joel 2:6 Meaning and Commentary

Joel 2:6

Before their face the people shall be much pained
Or, "at their presence"; at the sight of them they shall be in pain, as a woman in travail; into such distress an army of locusts would throw them, since they might justly fear all the fruits of the earth would be devoured by them, and they should have nothing left to live upon; and a like consternation and pain the army of the Assyrians or Chaldeans upon sight filled them with, as they expected nothing but ruin and destruction from them: all faces shall gather blackness;
like that of a pot, as the word ^F13 signifies; or such as appears in persons dying, or in fits and swoons; and this here, through fear and hunger; see ( Nahum 2:10 ) ( Lamentations 4:8 ) ( 5:10 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F13 (rwrap) "fuliginem", Montanus; "luridum ollae colorem", Tigurine version, Tarnovius; "ollam pro nigore ollae", Drusius.

Joel 2:6 In-Context

4 Like [the] appearance of horses is their appearance, and like horsemen they run;

5 like [the] sound of chariots on the tops of the mountains, they leap about; like [the] sound of a flame of fire devouring stubble; like a strong army arranged in rows [for] battle.

6 {From before them} nations writhe, all faces {turn pale}.

7 They run like mighty warriors, they scale the wall like men of war; each goes on its own way, and they do not swerve [from] their paths.

8 They do not jostle {one another}; each goes on its own trail; and through the falling weapons, they are not halted.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "From in front of it," or "From the presence of it"
• [b]. Literally "gather paleness"